The Lovers, the Brothers, and the Sith Part 1
by Patti T
Summary: My Revan fanfic, about her and some other's lives shortly after the end of Malak. Disclaimer: Everyone and everything mentioned in this fanfic is property of George Lucas, except characters and things not previously portrayed and of my own invention-enjoy


The Lovers, The Brothers, and The Sith

Part 1: The lovers.

Talisa slept, her arms tidily cupped around her pillow. Her grip tensed in her sleep, her mind tingled familiarly…her dreams haunted her.

Flashback.

_The dirty earth trickled in the air, dusty and pale. This now nameless planet they visited, long dead from war and forever bathed in death and darkness, is where their previous reality died. They stood alone, their stealthy cruiser behind them, each finding company in the dust, in the death. The love of two Jedi became the lust of two Sith, and the death of all the planet's life. "Together, we will conquer. We will prevail. We must, or we will never span beyond failure." his macabre mechanical voice hummed as he wrapped his arm around her. _

"_Our love is an omen, Malak. It's too late for them, now." the eerie female entity crooned from beneath her baleful helm. "We will show them what power love will bring. "_

"_It is indeed a powerful ally, my Mistress. We shall continue on." Malak drones. His companion lifted off her helm, exposing her caramel visage. Wisps of her hair flailed slightly, tickling her fierce mahogany eyes as they squinted in the blurry sunlight beaming in the haze. "Nowhere in the galaxy will our adversaries find a death so beautiful," he articulated crisply to her, "and nowhere will I find pain so satisfying, in our love without mercy." She grins serenely, her face erupting a wraithlike radiance._

"_You learn quickly, and speak gracefully, Beloved. Perhaps my dismembering your jaw has forced you to choose your words with such precision." He remembered how her lightsaber seared into his flesh in the heat of the duel, searing through skin, bone, muscle. Seeing the steam of his wound roll off his severed jaw, remembered his tongue dangling by a thread of flesh, and how the tears rolled down as it grazed his neck._

"_I will never resent you…only envy you. I will consume you…Beautiful Creature." Malak removed his worn gloves and handed them to his companion. He then cupped his hands around her face, feeling her pulse, her breathing, her energies. She tilted her head and drew in towards him, kissing him on his cheek, then spoke breathily near his ear:_

"_Do not dream so high in the sky…or the weight of the world won't reach you."_

Talisa's eyes sprung open, she woke up facing Carth's back. She breathed heavily, in a state of heightened panic, almost believing that her vision of the past was the present once more. Urgently she grabbed hold of his torso slipping her hand deftly into his, pressing herself firmly upon him, burrowing her face in his back. Carth heaved comfortably in his sleep, further cupped her hand in his, and pressed it against his stomach. Her eyes stayed wide open for hours; her memory of the past brought back a flood of information. It disrupted her, the massive stream of recollections running through her head, overwhelming her senses. It is the shell shock of redemption, the trauma of traveling two extremes.

It is the price of two lives.

The next evening. 1900 hours standard, Coruscant. Approximately 7 months after the destruction of the Star Forge.

"Carth," She held his face close to hers, kissing him sweetly and immersing herself in his touch. "losing you is not an option. I will return…I promise you. Wherever I may go…one day, I will return".

Carth seemed disappointed. He remembered all too well what occurred the last time Talisa went into deep space. "Well honey, it's not where your goin', or what you're doin', it's the fact that I wont be there to protect you, to hold you when you're hurt, to keep you away from pain." He paced doggedly through the apartment.

She halted him placidly in return, sealing his lips with a kiss. "Shh…Carth, you're an admiral now, my love. You're not just 'some grunt' like you used to say! Many, many people depend on you now, not just me. I don't want you hurt. Besides, you've got Dustil to help, too, he needs you, he loves you."

Carth held her tightly, squeezing her lovingly, staring into her face. "If it weren't for you…Dustil…well…he would be long gone by now. I owe you more than my life." He smiles, softly stroking her face with the tips of his fingers.

"You want me to stay so badly?"

"Yes-- in fact, I have the perfect plan. C'mon!" He gestured Talisa to follow him, placing his arm around her.

"What are you up to?" Nervous laughter bubbled after her sentence.

"Hey, just follow me up to our room, and you'll see…you impatient woman!" Talisa laughed aloud, tickled by the subtleties in Carth's voice. "Sit right here, Babe." He winked and leaned on the bed frame, staring at her 'sexily'.

"Babe, hm?" Talisa conjectured, sitting on the end of the bed, laughing once more at his humorous flirty gestures. His smile slowly surfaced as he began to laugh.

"Yeah, Babe! Got a problem with that, or can I keep talkin'?" he jovially remarked.

"Go ahead, what's your 'battle plan' as it were? How exactly are you going to delay my departure?"

"Well Ive got a very special plan, its top secret, and its gonna take some effort to get it outta me…ye know?" Carth began to touch her, his hands first smoothed her shoulders then delicately streamed down her arms onto her hips, like the flow of water.

"I didn't plan on using any interrogation methods, but, if I must…" Talisa purred. She deftly teased Carth; with feline movements she coyly slipped from his grip, slinking towards the balcony, winking back at him. He had the spark of ardor in his steps as he hungrily followed his woman.

"What's this about! Nobody said you could just slip away, Beautiful."

Talisa giggled softly, slowly. "I didn't ask, did I?" she opened the balcony doors wide, letting the smell of the starry night air cocoon them. Carth glared at her there, as she leaned casually on the doorframe; he was consumed by the beauty of the moment. Talisa felt the force, it guided her, weaved her through all her emotions onward to a point of idyllic clarity-- his love siphoned strength to her.

"Damn…I don't wanna be the one to break the moment, but Girl, you're…a goddess tonight." Talisa blushes and smiles, gazing down at her feet. Her resplendent face beamed--she played with her amber waves, wrapping some between her fingers, still bashful of Carth's heart spoken flattery.

"Hey now, someone's got the hots for me, huh?" Carth bantered cockily, which Talisa affirmed simply with her golden eyes tracing his physique. "My eyes may wander, but my mind does not--Carth, what is the plan here, you haven't told me anything, I'm dying to know! On with it, I'm too curious."

"What! You think its that easy? You've barely broken a sweat so to speak! Its gonna take more effort than that, I'm afraid!"

"Oh, my feminine wiles didn't cut it a minute ago? That didn't count?" She extended her hand to Carth, summoning him. "Come closer."

He moved in, kissing her outstretched hand, and walked with her to the middle of the balcony. "Feminine wiles, huh. Yea, they're workin'. Keep on, you'll know when I'm gonna tell." Talisa stares at him playfully, grinning until Carth eventually chuckles. "What? What's wrong, do I look crazy all of a sudden?"

"No, no, you're just so stubborn, sometimes I forget how long it took for you to trust me--with reason, though!"

"Oh, that again. Yea, I get that a lot…hey shouldn't you know this, Beautiful?" Carth playfully nudged her arm, and she nudged back.

"I do, I do. And I love you for it, it just happens to be that I adore looking at you, and together with that, your thick headedness is pretty amusing!"

"Thickheaded? You can do more than that! Come on, lets hear it, hit me!" he goaded, lightly pinching her arm. She feigns pain cordially, pinching him back in return; Talisa continued to flirt with her lover.

"Oh, stop it you…you shaggy rug-skinned Wookie fiend? Forget it, I'm fresh out of good ones, I'm not skilled at that game of yours!"

"Don't worry about it I'm just pickin', you don't have to play along if you don't want to." Carth holds her close to him; they pause, each so honored and proud to have the love of the other.

"so, tell me_ exactly_…what would be the perfect thing to do to get it out of you?"

"I won't say, Miss Jedi, but I'll give you a nudge in the right direction." Carth begins kissing her neck, his breathing sending shivers down her spine. She exhales slowly, affectionately gripping his shirt, pulling him even closer to her body.

In the den, Dustil sat quietly and munched on sweets as he watched a holovid of his favorite Bith band. But soon it ended, and his exasperated gestures suggested his disappointment of once again falling into boredom. 'This is _so flamin'_ boring…Dad's doin' who knows what, and he's who knows where…" he thinks to himself as he sneaks a drink from his father's liquor cabinet.

"Hah-- this aught to rustle him up a little." he mumbled, and happily constructed a Juma cocktail. Dustil sipped his drink, posting himself on a stool at the kitchen island. He glanced lazily at the whole of the apartment: it was chic and elegantly functional, the walls decked in deep midnight blue, the furniture was dark silver. The windows faced the edge of a body of water, the buildings relentlessly tiered and wrapped around the coast. He lost himself in the view, as always, and daydreamt of what laid before him in his future.

"Psst!" A rasp voice beckons from the once-locked main threshold. Dustil twists around in his seat to see Mission Vao, the young, vivacious, and now semi-famous Twi'lek. She briskly swung her pack to and fro; her lax and laid back posture all but defined her age.

"Yo! don't do that, you know how my dad flips out. But hey, I welcome the company, ya know? 'Cos It's just _so_ exciting tonight." Mission chortled in response, sitting on a stool next to Dustil.

"I love makin' yer Dad go nuts! So, what's up, where's the action? Whats 'so exciting'?" Dustil sighed and gestured to the utter lack of happenings in the living quarters.

"You're lookin at it. Absolutely nothing." Dustil murmurs as he tops off his drink.

"Lets go to the cantina, then! I've got my lucky deck with me." Dustil crinkled his lips to one side and raised his eyebrows in consideration whilst staring into his drink. "C'mon, 'smokes, good food, good drinks, all the people, we're goin'!" Dustil starts at the prospect of a plate of excellent stuffed crustaceans.

"Alright, alright, I'm in! as long as we order that seafood dish, ya know the one we always get."

"Yeah of course, we always get it! Grab yer jacket, lets get a move on, partner!" her enthusiasm was charismatic, and Dustil found himself reaching for his coat before any other thoughts. But as he walked towards the threshold, his conscience held him back. He thought of his father.

"Uh, hold on a minute. Let me go tell Dad real quick, don't want to make someone like him worry, ya know? And well, mostly 'cos of what happened last time…" he chuckled, ambling over to the hallway. Mission crossed her arms impatiently as Dustil looked behind his shoulder and smiled at her.

"Hey don't worry about 'im, we'll be fine--oh never mind, take your time, I'll wait." Mission planted herself on the stool in the kitchen, sipping from the cocktail he made, watching him wander down the hall in search of Carth.

"Yo, Dad? Hey, Old Man where are you at!?" The shy slicing sounds of doorways opening and closing cascaded as he checked rooms. His voice carried far in the hall, but was unclear. Carth was not aware of him. In the master bedroom, he kissed feverishly, him and his woman both blinded from all else, entwined in each other's bodies. His arms firmly clasped her close to him, her legs around his waist. They were chained together like a melody. Dustil reaches their door at the end of the hall.

"Access denied." Dustil grumbles the control panel's reason for remaining sealed. He sighed lengthily and paced around a bit, then sliced the console to type a note in the panel, justifying his absence, and proceeded on his way. "See ya!" he yells loudly as he makes his way over to Mission. "Any one else comin'?" he asks her as he types someone a message in his data pad. She strokes one of her head-tails as she ponders.

"hm…nope, Zalbaar's back home doing more important stuff. Who are you typin' to?" she attempted to peer at his data pad; he playfully shrugs away from her, denying the chance.

"A friend of mine. Now come on lets go, you'll meet 'em there." he mumbled, lighting up a smokestick as soon as the main threshold opens before them.

"Better bring your cold hard credits if you're gonna wager when we play this time, or are you gonna act a Gizka on me again!…Dustil? What?" Dustil's head drooped, and he sighed as he heard footsteps quickly rushing over to intercept their plans.

"Hey, hey, hey, where are you two going? What are you doing--what are you thinking??" Carth had definitely heard his son as he had bellowed outside his bedroom, much to the youths' distaste. He stood firmly, facing them in his rich grey night robe, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed. He glances at his son, then at mission, then back to his son before he turned slightly to the left to face Talisa. She approached him from the hall, anticipating the argument from the note Dustil wrote on the console.

"Dad, come _on_, nothing's gonna happen! The entertainment quarter's ok now, it'll be fine." He exhaled smoke as he spoke to him, offering his father a smokestick. Carth, more irritated by the moment, pressed his son's hand out of the way, shaking his head no. Dustil backed off a few steps, putting the smokes away. "We just wanna grab some food and play some Pazaak, what's so bad about that?"

"Dustil, you can do that here, I don't get why you need to go there, you know damn well how things went last week, I don't trust half the patrons or staff of that cantina, there's a lot of wise guys I'd rather you not meet again." Carth commented briskly and sharply. Mission hid her amusement, feigning coughs to cover her laughter.

"Ugh--Mission! Help me out here, will you!?" Mission laughed in full swing as she walked over to a chair and sat down. "Dad, that stuff can happen at _any_ cantina…I don't know why you're so huffed up about it, really, I'll let 'em have it if they didn't learn the first time!"

"Dustil that's what I'm afraid of! You forget so quickly, that it was just last week I had to bail you and Mission out of a flaming bit of trouble!" Carth delivered.

"Well Dad…that wasn't really our fault, I mean how could we have known some schuttas had some stupid bounty on my head! Hey, actually if you think about it, that's _your _fault, if you wouldn't have accepted to be Admiral Onasi it wouldn't have happened!"

_You are SO pretentious…truly the Sith hasn't wiped entirely clean from you. _Talisa thought to herself. Carth closed his eyes, shaking his head, incensed and weary of arguing.

"Okay, go ahead and go but I am NOT bailing you, or anyone this time, got it? So take care of your own selves and be smart for once. Kids…I swear."

"Thanks, Dad. Catch ya later!" Dustil laughed and continued conversation with Mission as they headed out.

"I am too lenient." Carth sighed and sat in the den. Talisa pushed holocrons out of the way on the floor as she followed Carth, adjusting her pearly silk robes.

"He'll be fine, Carth. I think he learned at least not to start fights with dancers last week." Revan assured him with a hint of humor. She curled up in his lap, both of them facing the window's ceaselessly breathtaking view.

"Hm. I sure as hell hope so," he grumbled, "I mean, I know its my fault for not being there when he was young. He has no discipline. I bet he walked all over his mother…only if she let him, that is. Then again, I was a wild kid, he probably gets it from me."

"Don't worry, my love, just feel the now and you'll be fine. Breathe…" she slipped behind him, massaging his shoulders, and was happy to see him gradually relax into a calm stupor.

"Hey, can I get a scalp massage while we're at it? I'll just lay my head down…" Some moments later, he exhaled, comfortable and more relaxed, and opened his eyes to see his woman above him, stroking his forehead.

"You fell asleep." she whispers. Carth laughed and lifted himself from her lap to face her.

"You baby me! How embarrassing is that, I should at least stay awake for treatment like that." Talisa laughs jovially, dismissing any alleged condescension he thought he gave her.

"I'm just glad you feel better. After Dustil earlier, I thought you'd pop a vein."

"Ha! No…I get mad fast, but I'm not mad long." Talisa nodded in agreement. For a few silent moments, they peered out the windows from their couch. "By the way, I'm curious about something', will you indulge me, or just tease me like always? I've been hesitating to ask you this." he glanced into her face, smiling with a youthful innocence. Talisa glances back at him dotingly, moving forward and sinking into his arms.

"I'll indulge you, sure. Go ahead?"

"Ok, let me say first that I'm very honored to have you, and I know you know that and feel the same and all, but I can't help but wonder from some of the memories you've sparsely told me about…when you were Darth Revan…did you really love at all? Whatever love is to the Sith?"

"Ah, you're curious about my past with Malak. I figured it would only be a matter of time before you asked. Well…of course there was a shadowy time of emotions and bonds when I was falling. Part of why Malak and I went to war together, was to get away from the council's eyes…secretly we had fallen in love with one another. When we weren't Sith we thought the love between us would keep us righteous and help to end the war-- 'love conquers all', right?" Carth nodded, listening curiously.

"Yea…I understand. Please, go on." Talisa smiled timidly, continuing.

"I'm glad you do…but after the war was won, we took too many leniencies, we betrayed the Order further by indulging in each other, and in our travels what we thought was love had been slowly warping…" Talisa falls back into memories long buried, once erased and then resurfaced. She digs and digs her way through them, recollecting pieces of a whole-- of the day she and Malak immersed themselves in each other. They had won the Mandalorian Wars together, and then the next night they won each other…

Flashback.

_The slick movements and sounds of silk falling to the ground; Malak like all Jedi, shielded from the desire of the physical, stared at her with a hunger. Like the predator to its prey, or more appropriately, the hunter's addiction to his huntress. Wholly organic, sinfully intense. She sold her body to him, with her movements, her beckoning, her wanton desire. Nothing but the lights of the city sky through the windows draped her now, and as Malak drew closer to her he felt the telltale high of lust. The lightheaded feeling of the clouded mind he had, clouded with the thoughts of all that would be happening in their room that night. _

_Talisa felt the ripples of emotion through the force as she had unveiled herself before him, like a stone amasses ripples upon the water. Her heart raced as she saw him come closer to her, and pounded in her stomach as he undressed himself. Now, they were both bathing in the glow of the city._

"_Finally, we belong to each other. And no one else," said Malak while coddling her, stroking and kissing her soft face._

"_I love you. And I will never understand why the Order disallows such beauty, such balance. You have me, as I have you, forever." she embraced him closely speaking softly in his ear, lips grazing it as Malak exhales enticingly. He adored the way she traced the trench of his spine with her fingertips._

"_Tonight will never be forgotten, my love. Let us show all the Jedi there _can_ be love between us--as long as we are strong." And Talisa had no words left for how she felt that moment. She stroked her body against his, skin upon skin, and her hands, visited places she's never felt before. Her nerves trembled with lust and passion as Malak gave to her what she gave to him. They tasted that night something they should have never tried, for its consequences would be as dire and painful as the act was beautiful and flawless. Talisa realized far too late, and it seemed Malak would never see the whole truth behind those consequences…_

Talisa nervously fiddled with her hands, weary to look Carth in the eye after depicting such information to him. "We were more physical as we fell, and the darkness of the Sith teaches only of the self. So to answer your question most directly, I felt no real love as a Sith. No real compassion. What real feelings we had by that time were crushed under the weight of the shadows. The only thing between Malak and I by then…was the passion of ambition and the desire to overachieve and overthrow the other." Carth reflected deeply, feeling her gestures and undertones as she spoke to him. Much fear and much sorrow emanated from her memories.

"That's a sad story, Love. Sorry I asked…it looks like you really regret him."

"Don't blame yourself for asking, you knew so much already and I had kept hiding this from you, it's not anyone's fault. And, yes, I do regret the things I had chosen to do, the war, giving myself to him, that should not have happened. But I cannot regret him as a person, I knew him and loved him, and I know its my fault for his grim destiny..." she recalled her memory to Carth, like it had occurred just the day before…

Flashback.

_The final battle was ending. Malak crawled up onto his feet from the glass cell he had been kicked into._

"_Malak, don't you see now? Why I am here before you? I want to help you, I can save you." The roaring chaos from the faltering systems boomed in the background. They were surrounded by warnings, glowing lights, terminals failing._

"_You are strong, Revan, but you will not win this. I will bring you into hell with me!" his lightsaber broken and sparking on the floor, he falls into Echani stance and battles with her. She bests him once again, force pushing him fiercely against one of the terminals._

"_Malak! Look at what the Sith has done to you. Your mind is tainted! Look at me. The person you used to love, Malak, and I still love you! The Order gave me another chance…and it didn't happen without a reason. The Force brought you to me, and you know that is true." He cringed in pain as he heard her, holding his side. He clenched his eyes and groaned; blood trickled from his nose, trailing over his cylindrical prosthetic._

"_It…it doesn't matter!" he, becoming more unsure of himself, approaches her. He hobbled up to her quickly, holding his side firmly with one arm and throwing punches weakly with the other. "I will see your death, we will die together in this damned coffin!"_

"_Malak," she catches his punch in her hand. He steps off balance, falling on her. She grabs hold of him, steadying him. "You are dying, Malak…you're suffering ruptured organs, internal bleeding, broken ribs, you must let me take you out of here!"_

"_Jedi are insane! You would do that, for what!? I would only come back to kill you and all your damn friends." His breathing was frighteningly labored, wheezing as more blood trickled from his nostrils. Bubbles of frothy blood formed as his breathing became more and more stressed. He lost balance again, too weak to keep himself standing straight. Talisa steadies him once more, slowly guiding him down to the floor._

"_Malak…don't do this, I know this isn't really you, as it wasn't really me. Please…let me take you with me." She slowly weeps as she rips off a part of her tunic, wiping the blood away from his nostrils. Malak was so confused, so taken aback, he simply glared at her as she attempted to heal him. She injected him with several life support packs, but the wounds had become fatal. He was dying, slowly, painfully. "You need hospitalization, I can tend to you successfully on my ship! Please…I cannot see you die like this." his anger was dissipating, he felt like he was being released from the unnatural grip he was caught in._

"_Perhaps it is better this way." Talisa suddenly feels his hand grab hers, she recoils slightly at his clammy touch. "Perhaps it is better that I die here. I have caused so much unrest…I…feel different. I don't understand…" his voice was a bit garbled; his neck was damp with blood that oozed underneath his prosthetic. He was so helpless, she could not bear the thought of him being alone when he died. Talisa began to attempt picking him up._

"_No, this will not happen, you are coming with me." She heaved as she tried to keep him in her arms, but he was simply too heavy for her feline body. Crying and overwhelmed, exhausted from struggling, she set him down again, trying to drag him towards the elevator that lead to the hanger. "Damn, please, stay with me, Malak!" His eyelids were drooping, his life was fading._

"_Stop. Talisa…just stop. Come to me." she was silenced by his using her real name, his somber calmness. His fervent, passionate demeanor had fallen away from him, like a mantle of magma that had cooled and cracked away._

"_Why must I stop? We're almost there, please, stay with me…" She bent down, looking at his deathly pale body. He once again grabbed her hands, pulling her gently onto him, longing for her to hold him. She instantly embraced him, and began to hear him sob silently near her ear. _

"_It is my destiny, I must not stay. I am not the Jedi you are…you, break the boundaries, you show the Force in all its glory, the regulations have been proven flawed, without the opinions of sentient beings. You are…beyond beautiful. I love you…so much, always…and always, I'll be seeing you." she felt him becoming one with the Force, and it felt like a knife made of glass opening her heart. He died there, ascending back to the light. And she didn't care about the blood, or the deteriorating Star Forge, or the hangar, or herself. All that she cared about was him._

"I still cry…seeing his eyes before he passed from this world…but I know he passed a free soul. I'm glad, that at the least that the person that corrupted him was the person to bring him back to the light. I wish so much he hadn't died from his wounds…at least he saw my failures and knew his echoed mine." A period of unnerving silence chilled the room.

"So that's how it went. Do you think it's why you fell to the Dark Side?" His opening sentence was tart, and his tone was repressed; Carth's true emotions on her recollections were like a beacon of flashing light to a Jedi. he was very jealous and aware of it--he desired no further harm to Talisa. But she felt his envy, it was inevitable. He could not help how strongly it emitted from him.

"I often believe it contributed heavily to our conversion, but it was too late before I learned of the Star Forge."

"So inexperience and your victory in war pretty much numbed you both. You felt invincible, like nothing wrong could happen. Then the Sith crept into you, and broke you, before you could ever say no." Talisa writhed, turning her face away from Carth in painful shame. She could not forgive herself to this day for all that she had done. All the death and manipulation, pain, suffering, all facets of all those things came to her mind. They haunted her, raping her and leaving her violated every time she remembered her dire mistakes. It was a vice-grip that choked her as her eyes watered up, feeling all the lost souls she had defiled, all the good she had destroyed or corrupted. She felt filthy, yet believed that to be her constant punishment.

"Talisa? Talisa! Talk to me, please, Sunshine, I'm sorry I made you upset." Carth patted her thigh, trying to rile her out of her stupor. She had become so disturbed from her previous, dark lifestyle she was disrupted physically. A psychosomatic trauma. She cried without blinking, without a sound, only tears ran down her cheeks that fell and grazed her chest. Her sorrowful, ghostly expression saddened Carth as he continued to try and awaken her from her trance-like catatonia. He firmly took hold of her shoulders, closely facing her, trying his best to summon her back into reality. Gradually Talisa ran out of silent tears, and Carth watched vigilantly as she slowly closed her eyes and sighed deeply. He waited loyally for her to speak.

"I'm…so sorry Carth. It's all my fault. Sometimes I feel I do not deserve the mercy the council gave me. Yet, if I were dead right now…it would serve more pain, would it not?"

"Definitely! I would be dead. I would have shared a grave with that turncoat admiral. You gave me a reason to live on, understand?" he held her tightly against him. Talisa was relaxed and pliable in his warm grip, listening to his heart.

"There is the balance." The lovers admired each other, for a long moment they stayed like this, reflecting upon the force and its mysteries, before Talisa speaks once more. "Come." as she leads, he shadows her steps as if they were his own, into the bedroom once again. He walked over to a secret compartment in the wall and slid back a panel, retrieving something precious from within. Talisa watched him curiously; he trudges over to her with the small bauble clasped within his hand.

"I think you knew this as soon as I wanted to know about your past with him, but, I don't ever want to see you leave me. I'm yours forever. No matter what, I'll always be here, to protect and love you, to save you from yourself. Take this…It's what I was thinkin' would keep you from leaving so soon. It's the moment you've been tryin' to pry out of me." he placed the stunning, immaculately crafted ring on her finger; it was richly golden and crowned with a blazing deep amber crystal she had never seen before. She was caught in utter surprise, gawking at the ring upon her finger.

"I…am so thankful, Carth! Wait--how much did you spend on me!? Please tell me you didn't annihilate your savings…it's a promise ring?" she was nervous and elated as her voice fumbled out her thoughts.

"Engagement, I hope?" he said, kissing her forehead. She leaned on him affectionately, yet had her doubts.

"Carth, are you sure about this? I may not be leaving now, not soon, but--"

"I'll wait, then. However long it takes for you to get back. I'll be here." he kissed her cheeks, assured her. Talisa contemplated intricately, running the situation over and over in her head.

_I don't deserve him, he has such a good heart. Yet…without me, he would have been lost to darkness, or dead. It is done, then. It is truly balance…_she thinks to herself. "Carth, I accept your engagement with my whole heart; I thank you deeply, I am forever grateful to you…but what of Dustil?"

"Dustil? I'm sure he'll be fine. He's a young man, old enough to take it ok, he doesn't really need raising anymore. Just guidance. And us together, I think will be a great example to him." Talisa had mixed feelings about Dustil. Her stomach twists as she sensed Dustil's old anger, his contempt and how he once thought Carth abandoned his mother. It all still rested within him, dormant and barely existing.

"Carth, I do not want a repeat incident of Korriban. I don't want Dustil to regurgitate those feelings--I definitely don't want him to feel like I'm replacing his mother's memories in your eyes. Please, be very mindful of him. He is young, and with that he is impressionable, do not forget that." A little discouraged at himself for setting that aside so quickly, Carth sighed as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I'll talk to him, in the morning." he promises.

"And I will be by your side." Carth nodded amiably at her comment, happy that she had voluntarily supported him. He felt safe with her judgment, and they continued what they started earlier that night, as they undressed.

End Part 1


End file.
